VIJAYAWADA: Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee chief YS Sharmila welcomed the directives of the Election Commission of India, preventing the State government from utilising village and ward volunteers for the disbursal of welfare schemes until after the elections. However, she was left fuming when she called Chief Secretary KS Jawahar Reddy on Sunday and he informed her that disbursal of pensions would take 10 days.
Miffed, she warned of staging a dharna at the Chief Secretary’s office, if the pension was not disbursed in two to three days.
In a press release, she sought to know if there were no government staff and mechanisms in place to disburse the aid. She asked if it was not possible to pay pensions through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) mode? She described the delay of pension disbursal as a conspiracy of the government.
Congress candidates’ list to be out soon
Later in the day, she left for New Delhi to attend the party’s screening committee meeting to finalise the candidates for the upcoming elections. The Congress has received 1,500 applications for 175 Assembly and 25 Parliament constituencies. The announcement of the candidates is expected in a day or two, sources said.